Winemaker Notes
Chryseia 2014 was produced from the finest quality grapes from Prats and Symington's two Upper Douro Valley vineyards, Quinta de Roriz and Quinta da Perdiz. Another property, Quinta da Vila Velha, which is privately owned by a member of the Symington family, also contributed some of its best grapes, as it has for every vintage of Chryseia.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Spectator
A powerful and concentrated red, featuring kirsch, red plum and baker's chocolate notes, balanced by tarragon, slate and violet details. Elegant, with supple tannins framing the long finish, which is laced with hot stone, olive and licorice accents. Drink now through 2023.
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Wine & Spirits
After Bruno Prats sold Cos d’Estournel, he began a partnership with the Symington family to reimagine the Douro from a table wine perspective. Since their first release in 2000, the wines have often been more international in style than this 2014. The selection comes from two quintas in the Douro Superior—Roriz and de Perdiz—as well as Vila Velha, a quinta neighboring Roriz owned by a Symington. Yes, this is richly oaked, with the suppleness and perfume that comes with aging in new French oak barrels (400 liters in size). But there’s also a black raspberry note adding complexity to the ripe blueberry flavor, and a lot of broken schist detail to the tannins. This is the best showing for a young Chryseia in our tastings.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2014 Chryseia is a nearly equal blend of Touriga Nacional and Touriga Franca, aged for 15 months in new French oak. It comes in at 14.2% alcohol. Like a lot of wines in this vintage, this does seem to be on the lighter side, but it provides fruit and flavor, plus some tension on the finish that allows those flavors to linger. Admittedly, some of that flavor just now is oak-related, but that will subside steadily. This should turn into a beautiful Bordeaux-like wine with mid-palate finesse and unexpected intensity in the right places. I was a little surprised at how much I liked this, given the very tough vintage, but it looks like a fine performance in an off vintage, the only question being its concentration. As with many wines in vintages like this, I do sometimes wonder if it will reward aging or thin too quickly, but right at the moment, this will make people pretty happy. Give it a year or two to settle in. It should be on the early-maturing side. This is going to be a seductive Chryseia in the short to mid-term. After that, we'll see where we are.
Chryseia, which means "golden" in Greek, is one of the leading red table wines from Portugal's Douro Valley. Crafted by Prats & Symington family, Port producers since 1882, and Bruno Prats, former owner of the famed Chateau Cos d'Estournel, Chryseia began with some experimental lots of wine in 1999. Sine that time, the wine has demonstrated the incredible potential of combining winemaking expertise from the Douro Valley and Bordeaux, two of the world's best wine regions. Chryseia further underscored its commitment to producing wine in the Douro Valley with the acquisition of Quinta de Perdiz, and the legendary Quinta de Roriz in 2009.
With hundreds of red grape varieties to choose from, winemakers have the freedom to create a virtually endless assortment of blended red wines. In many European regions, strict laws are in place determining the set of varieties that may be used, but in the New World, experimentation is permitted and encouraged resulting in a wide variety of red wine styles. Blending can be utilized to enhance balance or create complexity, lending different layers of flavors and aromas. For example, a red wine blend variety that creates a fruity and full-bodied wine would do well combined with one that is naturally high in acidity and tannins. Sometimes small amounts of a particular variety are added to boost color or aromatics. Blending can take place before or after fermentation, with the latter, more popular option giving more control to the winemaker over the final qualities of the wine.
How to Serve Red Wine
A common piece of advice is to serve red wine at “room temperature,” but this suggestion is imprecise. After all, room temperature in January is likely to be quite different than in August, even considering the possible effect of central heating and air conditioning systems. The proper temperature to aim for is 55° F to 60° F for lighter-bodied reds and 60° F to 65° F for fuller-bodied wines.
How Long Does Red Wine Last?
Once opened and re-corked, a bottle stored in a cool, dark environment (like your fridge) will stay fresh and nicely drinkable for a day or two. There are products available that can extend that period by a couple of days. As for unopened bottles, optimal storage means keeping them on their sides in a moderately humid environment at about 57° F. Red wines stored in this manner will stay good – and possibly improve – for anywhere from one year to multiple decades. Assessing how long to hold on to a bottle is a complicated science. If you are planning long-term storage of your reds, seek the advice of a wine professional.
The home of Port—perhaps the most internationally acclaimed beverage—the Douro region of Portugal is one of the world’s oldest delimited wine regions, established in 1756. The vineyards of the Douro, set on the slopes surrounding the Douro River (known as the Duero in Spain), are incredibly steep, necessitating the use of terracing and thus, manual vineyard management as well as harvesting. The Douro's best sites, rare outcroppings of Cambrian schist, are reserved for vineyards that yield high quality Port.
While more than 100 indigenous varieties are approved for wine production in the Douro, there are five primary grapes that make up most Port and the region's excellent, though less known, red table wines. Touriga Nacional is the finest of these, prized for its deep color, tannins and floral aromatics. Tinta Roriz (Spain's Tempranillo) adds bright acidity and red fruit flavors. Touriga Franca shows great persistence of fruit and Tinta Barroca helps round out the blend with its supple texture. Tinta Cão, a fine but low-yielding variety, is now rarely planted but still highly valued for its ability to produce excellent, complex wines.
White wines, generally crisp, mineral-driven blends of Arinto, Viosinho, Gouveio, Malvasia Fina and an assortment of other rare but local varieties, are produced in small quantities but worth noting.
With hot summers and cool, wet winters, the Duoro has a maritime climate.